The Twists And Turns Of F1's Singapore Grand Prix TV Audience

Next week the roar of race car engines will echo through the streets of Singapore as Formula One comes to town. The tiny Asian state uses F1 to boost its profile and it has hosted eleven races so far. As the only night race on the calendar it has become a fan favorite but its impact in F1's heartland has been more of a mystery. Until now.

Countries queue up to host F1 races so that they can be seen by the 352.3 million television viewers who watch the series annually. Although F1 breaks this total down by country, it doesn't reveal how popular individual races are in each market. In F1's home country of Britain, one organisation holds the keys to this.

The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) publishes TV audience data which is so highly-regarded that it is referred to as the ‘gold standard’ and is used by channels to sell advertising spots. Its data covers Britain’s 342 channels but only two are relevant to F1.

In Britain pay TV operator Sky screens every race as it happens whilst its free-to-air rival Channel 4 only shows ten live with delayed highlights of the remainder. Channel 4's audience can't be used to illustrate the popularity of the Singapore Grand Prix over time as it has only broadcast the race live once since it took over the wheel from the BBC in 2016.

In contrast, when Sky began broadcasting F1 in 2012 it launched a dedicated channel which doesn't just show every race live but all of the practice and qualifying sessions as well. Some Grands Prix are also shown on several of its other channels but they are all guaranteed to be on its flagship Sky Sports F1 so its audience data offers a record of the twists and turns in the viewership of specific races.

The graph below shows the average audience on Sky Sports F1 of the Singapore Grand Prix from 2012 to 2017 according to data obtained directly from BARB. The figures are for the consolidated average audience of the live broadcast and showings within seven days afterwards, either via a recorded playback or via a broadcast video-on-demand service. Next week the total for the Singapore GP will accelerate but this is its journey so far.

The twists and turns of the Singapore Grand Prix audience on Sky Sports F1